Chasing Chase
by choochooshoe
Summary: A story of Chase and Akari, in drabbles. Multiple drabbles per chapter. Watch out, fluff ahead!
1. First Impressions Aren't So Fun

Chasing Chase, A Collection of Drabbles

I.

Akari looked at the town after stepping off the ferry, and saw a pudgy man running to her, introducing himself as mayor Hamilton. After a tour of the town, he stopped her at a large building. "Sorry, but your house isn't ready yet, so we've arranged for you to stay here," they went in, and saw only one person. "I must go now, but he can help you get settled." They walked to him, noticing he was mixing something in a large pot. He turned as they got closer, staring at her with his large amethyst eyes. "Akari, meet Chase."

II.

After Hamilton left, Akari felt awkward left with Chase.

"Well. What are you doing here?" He spoke to her, disgust lacing his words.

"Um, I'm the island's new rancher. Nice to meet you!" She stuck out her hand for him to shake, but he made no move.

"Oh, the newbie. Anyways, your room is upstairs, third on the left." She headed to the stairs. "What, no bags?" Akari shook her head. "Hmph, that's weird…But that doesn't matter, just be back down here by 6. That's when I serve dinner." Akari went upstairs, and thought of what to do until 6.

III.

Heavenly aromas reached Akari, and she knew it must be 6. She walked downstairs, noticing that they were still alone at the Inn. Chase obviously hadn't heard her come downstairs, because he was focused on making dinner. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed so happy and carefree while cooking, far from his behavior earlier. Everything from how he held himself to the way he hummed a random tune seemed much brighter. He seemed to finish cooking and she walked over, pretending she had just gotten there. Chase smiled a plastered smile, and said to her, "Dinner is served."

IV.

Amazing, simply amazing. Chase's cooking had really gone above and beyond what she expected. The dish itself was just plain old lasagna, but he managed to bring out every succulent flavor, having each stand out in its own way. Every taste bud in her mouth seemed to be on fire from the medley of spices used, but it only made her crave more. It wasn't even 10 minutes before her food was finished and she had given the plate back to Chase. He saw the happiness in her eyes, and just smirked to himself as he started cleaning the kitchen.

V. (A few weeks later, in the beginning of summer. Akari was still learning on her farm, and had several trees grown and plants growing already)

She walked into the Inn with her rucksack holding her newly picked produce. She wanted to share her first big harvest. As she encountered each person, she stopped, and gave them something. For Maya, a tomato, for Colleen, a pinkcat flower, and for Jake, some corn.

"What, nothing for me?" Chase said as she walked past the kitchen.

"Oh, there you are! I saved my favorite fruit of all for you!" She handed him an orange. As she left the Inn he started to eat what happened to also be his favorite fruit and thought, maybe she isn't so bad.

VI.

He may have been a jerk on the outside, but he had his moments.

One morning, Akari awoke to a knock on the door. Still in her shorts/tank top pajamas, she answered the door to find Chase standing there, holding a chicken egg, which he gave to her. "I thought you could use this. For, um, cooking and stuff…" She smiled at his attempt to be sensual, taking the gift and thanking him for it. He smiled back, not a plastered smile, but a true one.

He may have been a jerk on the outside, but he had his moments.

VII.

He admitted it.

He liked her.

Every time she walked into the Inn, he seemed more self conscious. He paid more attention to her food when she ordered, and always held some sort of small talk with her while he never even spoke to others. Sometimes she even made him laugh, unlike anyone else. He seemed to feel a bit lighter after his talks with her, like she had taken a large and heavy burden from his shoulders.

And it's true what they say. Boys tease the girl they like. But oh, why must he always say such hurtful things?


	2. He's Getting Somewhere

VIII.

"What were you doing to the clock in town square the other day? I saw you there while I was taking a walk." Chase had waited for her to come into the Inn to ask her, as it had been bugging him since he saw her two days ago.

"Oh! Well, I wanted to fix it. I thought it might have a secret to help me save this islan-"

Chase cut her off saying, "You? Save this island? Ha, right. You can't even save your ranch." Akari turned red in the face and ran out, leaving Chase with his regret.

IX.

Akari stayed at her farm, nearly working herself to exhaustion after Chase said that. Her farm went from just beginning to doing great in a matter of days because of her constant work. The crops shined, and her cow and chickens seemed happier than ever. The thing was, it made Chase feel guiltier about saying what he did. He walked up to her door, intent on apologizing, when he heard, "Chase?" come from the field. He turned and saw her with her watering can, and walked to where she stood.

"I'm s-sorry Akari. I shouldn't have said what I did."

X.

After he apologized, Akari asked Chase if he'd talk with her for a while. They sat on the bank of the river, chatting for a bit before Chase said, "So, Akari, why do you want to save this island? Really, how could you even do that…?" Chase looked at her, honestly wanting to know if she was serious.

"Well, I'm trying to restore hope first. Really, if we don't have hope, how could we do anything?" She gave him a small smile, showing she really wanted to do this.

"…….Akari, that's cheesy."

"Now Chase, never underestimate the power of cheese."

XI.

After talking, Akari had been visiting the Inn more often. Sometimes she even brought Chase a gift from her ranch, usually oranges, since she noticed he loved them. One day, Chase was waiting for her, and he leaned over the counter. There was no business, therefore nothing to do. Suddenly, Maya popped up, making him jump. Maya nearly yelled, "Awww, waiting for Akari! That's so cute!"

"W-What!? I, um, of course not!" Chase could feel his face turning red.

Maya smiled knowingly, saying as she skipped off, "Sure. You should surprise her one day, you never know what could happen!"

XII.

Chase wanted to know Akari's birthday, and asked several people before thinking of the files in Town Hall. He quickly made his way there, where Gill gave him one of his usual sour looks, asking, "What do you want?"

Chase asked, "Could you get Akari's file and tell me her birthday? I need to know."

"Of course I can. But why waste time with her?" Gill walked to a cabinet and peered into a folder. "Autumn 4. She actually thinks she can save this island herself. I doubt it."

Chase gave him a thoughtful look and said, "You never know…"

XIII.

Summer was coming to an end, meaning that Autumn was coming. Akari loved this time, where it was still warm, but the air seemed more crisp, not as humid. It also brought her birthday, which she hadn't told to anyone yet. She didn't want anyone to do anything, but she found Chase already knew. "Happy birthday Akari!"

"Chase, how'd you know?!" She was really surprised.

"Town Hall's records. Now, what do you say about a picnic with me today?" He had spent a lot of the morning preparing lunch.

"Well, why not? Just let me finish here, and we'll go."

XIV.

They sat underneath Alan's tree, eating the delectable lunch that Chase had prepared. "Mmmmmm!" Akari was in bliss, this being her best birthday in a long time.

"Haha, like it?" Chase was glad, at least on the inside, that she was enjoying herself so much.

"Very much! Thanks for making this, it really has made this the best birthday I've had in a long time." She gave Chase one of her smiles that he loved so much, ones where her eyes closed and she just had a look of happiness on her face. Well, he thought, this made it worthwhile.

__________________________________________________________

Guys, I'm so sorry for being gone!! My laptop fried, and then I got this one and had to rewrite… Then when I finished, my dog died… May Jack be better off :'( But I will try to be better from now on. Thanks!! (I won't beg for reviews, but they do make me happy.)


	3. Friends, right?

Ohmigosh, I actually updated! *Le gasp*

As usual, I don't own anything, from Harvest Moon to the Lion King. If I did, I would've been able to buy myself a new computer than using this old fried one.

XV.

Akari came outside at presicely 6 A.M., just like Chase hoped. Of course, she was startled that he was there.

"Chase, what are you doing here?"

He pulled out a piece of foil-wrapped cake from his bag. He handed it over and simply said, "Happy Thanksgiving Day, Akari." She accepted it and thanked him as he walked away.

In town that day she asked Hamilton about Thanksgiving Festival.

"Well, boys give girls treats. There's a day like that coming up on the 18th, but girls give treats." He replied with his jolly enthusiasm.

"Hmm…" Akari had some planning to do.

XVI.

The 18th came quicker than Akari wanted, but she was ready for it.

She walked up to Chase's house just as he was leaving and said, "Good, you aren't gone yet! Here, Happy Thanksgiving!" She pulled out a slice of orange cake (she knew those oranges she froze would come in handy).

He took it and looked back at her. "Want to come inside? I don't have ot be at work for another two hours." He got a cunning look on his face. "I'll make you hot chocolate."

Needless to say, she went inside. (And the hot chocolate was amazing.)

XVII.

After the Thanksgiving festivals, Akari visited Chase at his house more often. There, she learned three things.

First, he was _definitely_ a bachelor. The first few visits included a couple minutes clearing a place to sit from the objects and laundry everywhere (dirty laundry, or course).

Second, he kept his kitchen in perfect order. Not so much as a teaspoon was out of place. (She also had this feeling that if anyone messed it up, he would hurt them.)

Last, she noticed he got a slight blush anythime they were close. And that was definitely the best lesson of all.

XVIII.

After New Year's [A/N: Skipped that one to write about, sorry!], Akari started growing crops again, and she gave out her first batch to everyone as usual.

When she gave out enough, she went to the Inn to see Chase, but Maya said he wasn't there yet but she was welcome to talk with Kathy and herself.

Akari had been around them plenty of times before but never for long, yet she enjoyed herself. After spending most of her time with Chase, it was nice to have girl talk.

Then again, every time she tried to focus on the girls, she nearly always ended up thinking of Chase.

XIX.

"I can see what's happening." Kathy looked to the bar where Akari stood talking to Chase.

"What?" Maya looked where Kathy did but she didn't get it.

"And they don't have a clue!" Kathy turned back to Maya, a bit sad.

"Who?" Maya still didn't get it.

"They'll fall in love, and here's the bottom line," Kathy put on hand on Maya's shoulder, "our trio's down to two."

"Oh." Now she understood.

Oh, how right they were. Every word Chase said, every look her way, and every smile he tried to hide made Akari fall in love a little bit.

XX.

Akari wasn't a happy camper to stay at the Inn for a week.

Then again, her house was being upgraded and staying there during it meant waking up covered in sawdust.

But, not staying there meant she had to walk all the way to her house earlier than she was used to in the morning.

However, on the third day things were made better when she saw a certain redhead sitting on her doorstep, asleep. Chase woke up some and offered to help her since she had a lot to do.

Oh yes, things looked so much better that morning.

XXI.

"You sure do spend a lot of time with Chase."

That one sentence from Kathy had lingered in Akari's mind all day. Now that she thought about it, it was true. She saw him nearly everyday, even on his days off work.

She tried to come up with a reason why. It was because they were good friends, right? Best friends.

No, that wasn't quite it.

But it had to be! She only thought of Chase as a friend, right?

Maybe… maybe not. She wasn't sure exactly what it was she felt for Chase, but it was stronger than friendship.


	4. Wait, what?

Yay, another one! I hope you like it! DISCLAIMER: I still own nothing. Yeah, you heard me.

XXII.

"How could it have turned out like this?" Akari whined to Maya and Kathy. "He was just a friend before!" She flopped face down on her bed.

Kathy walked over and rubbed her back soothingly. "I know… But, hey, there's a bright-side to this."

Akari looked up. "What?"

Kathy glanced at Maya and spoke to Akari. "Well, we think Chase likes you too."

Akari gasped, looking to Maya. "Really?"

Maya let out one of her boisterous laughs. "Yes, really! Man, you're really oblivious."

While Kathy mumbled something about how Maya's one to talk, Akari was in shock from her words.

XXIII.

Akari opened her door, ready to get to work.

"Hey, what's up?" Oh, that voice. That lovely, amazing voice belonged to the one person she didn't want to see yet.

"Morning, Chase. Why are you here?" She tried not to sound mean, really. But she didn't want to see him yet!

"Gee, what'd I do?" Chase leaned down a little, his face near hers. "You didn't come see me in so long that I thought I'd come see you."

Akari blushed at his closeness, but didn't move away. "…Why?"

He thought for a second, then answered, "Because I missed you."

XXIV. (Chase's POV!)

A slow night at the bar, great. I really didn't even want to be here in the first place, and now I'm just wasting my time. Really, the only people in here were Kathy and Maya.

After a few boring minutes, I accidentally overheard the girls' conversation.

"So, she really likes Chase?" Maya said, rather loudly.

"Sssh! Don't be so loud, but yeah, that's it." Huh? Who were they talking about?

"Yeah, whatever. Chase won't hear!" Oh, Maya. Ever so ignorant.

"You don't know that. Anyway, Akari said we couldn't tell him that she likes him." Kathy said.

Wait, what?

XXV. (Still in Chase's POV. Kthx. :D Might seem a bit confusing to you, though. It totally made sense when I wrote it.)

I told myself I would wait until morning until I tried to make sense of the situation. Akari liking me? No way that's true… But Kathy's always been reliable. (Can't say the same for Maya, but…)

But, this could be good. I mean, I kind of like her-.

No, don't get your hopes up, I told myself. That's only hurt you before.

My other half protested. She _could_ really like me, though. And I really do like her…

But, the first part of me retorted, she might not like you back!

Well, I thought, only one way to find out.

XXVI. (Back to Akari's POV! Or… is it third person? :/ Sorry for all these notes, by the way!)

"Nngh!" Akari heaved the hoe high in the air, then struck the earth. Well, she thought, only about 30 others to do… Great…

She was about to use it again, but spotted a certain ginger running her way. She leaned on the hoe and waited for him.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be heading to work?" She still didn't want to see him, but was curious why he was here.

"I came to ask you if," He panted from the running he did. "would accompany me to the Firefly Festival tomorrow?"

Surprised, she said the only thing she could.

"Yes."

XXVII.

Chase picked up Akari the next day, and headed to the firefly-lit waterfall.

"Do you like this?" Chase asked. He seemed nervous.

"Yes, of course!" Akari chuckled. "Calm down, it's fi- Whoa!" She tripped on the water-slick rocks and fell.

"Akari, are you alright?" Chase rushed to her.

"Yes, except that."

"What..? Oh!" Akari knee was cut. It wasn't too bad, besides the blood.

Akari glanced up at him, a little mischievously. "Chase, kiss it, make it better?" She seemed like she was joking, but he wasn't.

"Sure." He leaned down and kissed her, and really, she felt much better.

XVIII.

Chase brought Akari home. After checking her wound, he asked if he should go home or stay longer.

"Well, you can go if you want, but if you stay, we'll watch a movie! I'm just not going back outside tonight…"

"Well, I'll stay then." He laughed.

An hour later, they were deep into a movie upstairs. Akari, though, was desperately trying not to fall asleep. After a few more minutes, she was out like a light, leaning on Chase's shoulder.

The main character in the movie mumbled, "As it should be."

Yes, Chase thought, this is how it should be.

End notes! And there you have it, folks. Finally getting somewhere! I don't think there will be *too* many more chapters… But we'll see. *wink* And DANG, these things are hard to get to 100 words! I started these to help my habit of going off on unrelated tangents, since it's hard to do in 100 words, but it's really hard to do! Oh well, it's good for me I guess. If you like my writing, please check out my other stories! Anyway, please review and let me know if I'm doing well or if you have any ideas, whatever!


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